A few years ago I confessed my dream to my brother. I want to open a used book store that is also available online. I’ve wanted this for longer than I can remember. I even came close to writing a business proposal once with a friend of mine.
“That’s a waste of money,” he informed me. “Print books are going out of style, everything is going to eBooks and PDF.”
Yeah right! I love the feeling of a book in my hand, the smell of a library, seeing my collection on a gleaming bookshelf. Books will never go away! Far too many people are frightened by technology and love actual books. How can I read an eBook in a bubble bath? What if someone steals my purse, I just lost my whole collection!
Here I am years later, selling most of my collections. Hundreds of books are up for sale and my heart does break a little with each that I say goodbye to. Many of them are like old friends; they hold my love and sometimes my tears. I’m not selling them all, I’m keeping the ones that I feel are dear to my heart, that I have special memories with or that may never be available in eBook form due to age.
Why, you may ask, is someone who was once so dedicated to paperbacks selling her books? I started collecting them in eBook format and find it easier to read that way. Granted, I haven’t purchased my first eReader yet, but I plan to with the money I make from selling my books. I find reading them on my smart phone easier than pulling a book out. My home is small, I have a toddler who is taking over inch by inch, so we need all the space we can get. By selling my books I’m making a ton of room.
I am a little sad to say goodbye to my dream of having a real library some day in my own home. I dreamed of stacks built into the walls and one of those moving stepladders that circles around the room so you can reach the higher shelves. My dream of owning a used book store should probably also be put away.
I’m not saying paperback books are going away completely, I don’t think they ever will. There are far too many books in print to ever eBook them all, well maybe someday, but not today. Plus, there is still some debate over which eReader to buy and the prices are prohibitive to some families.
Who do you think bought me my first eBook? My brother.
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